


Just Friends

by asmaanixx



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aftermath of a bomb explosion, Low Self-Esteem, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-05-26
Packaged: 2018-11-05 05:51:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11007300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asmaanixx/pseuds/asmaanixx
Summary: A five-part series that chronicle Keith and Lance's relationship as they progress from being acquaintances to friends.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Rated M for later chapters. Could change to E.  
> 2\. My writing sucks. Thanks for reading anyways.

"Who's this?" Lance's mother asked with a warm smile adorning her face.

"A friend." Lance replied, shifting the weight of his heavy backpack on his shoulders. "We have to work on a project together."

"Uh-huh." Placido walked away having no more interest in the new boy Lance brought over.

Lance rolled his eyes and sighed. "Mama, can we get something to eat? I'm  _starving!_ "

His mother chuckled, as she headed into the kitchen. "Sure thing sweety."

"Why'd you lie?" Keith asked in a harsh whisper as they walked up the groaning stairs.

"Well, what did you want me to say?" Lance bit back. "That you're my pet chihuahua?"

Keith glared at him. "I don't want you to start getting any funny ideas about this okay. We're not friends."

"Whatever." Lance rolled his eyes and opened his room for Keith to enter.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Lance bounced on the back of his heels, trying to warm himself up a little as he waited for the doors to open. In retrospect, he should have brought a thicker jacket but he hadn't known it would be this cold. It was the middle of June after all.

"Oops, sorry!" He apologized as a body got pushed into him.

He scowled as he got no response and would have turned around minding his own business, if it weren't for the mullet on the back of that head. Now, Lance has gotten to see many people with many different hair styles during his three years of university, but there's only one mullet that would stand out for him in all of his life.

"Keith?"

The mullet-headed man turned around, brows furrowed. They relaxed as his eyes squinted, trying to put a name to a younger version of Lance's face.

"Lance?" He trailed off, not entirely sure if he was even remembering him correctly.

"Yeah!" Lance cheered, taking a few quick steps, a wide grin plastered on his face.

He had even gone as far as opening his arms to pull Keith in for a hug but then stopped when he realized they hadn't been that close of friends.

"How have you been man? It's been so long since I've seen you."

"Yeah." Keith replied, putting Lance in an awkward spot.

"Are you here for the stargazing event as well?" Lance asked instead. If they were going to make their reunion short, he sure as hell wanted to end it on a less cringe-worthy note.

"Yeah." Keith mumbled, shuffling on his spot

"Have you been here before?" Lance asked with a tight smile. Keith sure wasn't making his time easy.

"Yeah." Keith looked away, before asking, "You?"

Lance was surprised. He didn't think Keith would bother to extend their conversation.

"No. This is actually my first time." Lance blushed.

"Well, if you like space and stuff, then you might like it." He grumbled, digging the tip of his toe into the ground. "Do you want some company or...?"

"Are you offering?" Lance teased with a raise of his brow.

Keith shrugged. "If you wanted."

"Hey Lance!" Hunk greeted, holding two tickets in his hands.

"Hey you." Lance greeted back with a quick peck on his lips. "Hunk, I want you to meet Keith. He's a friend of mind from high school. Keith, this is Hunk, my boyfriend."

"Nice to meet you Keith." Hunk smiled, extending his hand out for Keith to shake.

Keith stared at for a moment or two before he shook it mumbling, "Yeah, same here."

Lance scrunched his brows upon seeing Keith's changed demeanor. Keith hadn't been saying much before but his body hadn't seemed so tense either. It had been more relaxed and open. But now, it appeared as if it was looking for the next available opportunity to run away. Lance hoped it wasn't because he introduced Hunk as his boyfriend. If it had been a problem with Hunk alone, then fine, whatever, he would have dealt with it. But if it's because he's a boy... then, well... Lance really hoped that this will be the last time he ever sees Keith.

At the sound of shuffling bodies and loud excitement, the three boys turned their attention to the now opened doors.

"We should go in now before all the good spots are taken." Hunk recommended, draping a hand around Lance's back. "Would you like to sit with us?" He politely asked Keith.

"N-No. I've got... people." He weakly supplied much to Lance's dismay.

"Well, okay. Bye Keith. It was nice meeting you." He gently waved goodbye, then looping an arm around Hunk, he stood behind the big crowd.

He thought he had seen Keith slowly inch forward as if he had wanted to say something but when he looked back, he was already gone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: This chapter deals with the aftermath of a bomb explosion. Some of the descriptions are graphic. It also deals with feelings of low self-esteem, helplessness etc. It is not mandatory for you to read this chapter if you find the subject material difficult.

This is what hell felt like.

Silent. Empty. Loss.

A world that had been thriving in vibrant colors and life just minutes before was now covered in thick layers of soot, smoke and ash. Small fires were burning in corner shops, the roads were littered with abandoned, hollowed out cars. And the people? They were now trudging along with leaden feet. Their skin either pink and dripping red because of various cuts and bruises or charred and painted with black clouds of ash and smoke. Then there were the dead. Mangled, dismembered, unidentifiable. In all sense of the word, truly dead.

Lance ironed his will and carried the crate of water bottles down the row of crowded cots. He handed them out and listened to the woes of those that were left behind. He listened even though his own heart cried out for the comfort of his family. He held people's hands and lent them his strength as they cried for those who were gone and for those who may never be found. He did what he could even though it may not be much.

He released a sigh and rested his head against the wall, closing his eyes. He had underestimated his ability to handle the damage There is nothing in the world that would have prepared him for this. No amount of training, or counselling could have readied him for all the horrors he had to see.

"This is the last time I would be asking you.  _What is your name_?" A voice enunciated in a highly frustrated tone.

Lance opened his eyes and looked at the speaker. It was another volunteer just like him. Lance furrowed his brows. He knew the huge amount of strain they were taking, but that didn't excuse them for behaving so rudely with the survivors. Lance walked towards the man as he raised his voice once more.

"What's the problem?" Lance intervened.

The volunteer sighed. "I have to fill out this chart and get everyone's name but he won't say what it is." He pointed at the man wrapped in a red blanket.

Lance squinted. The face looked familiar to him but he couldn't be too sure because of all the blackened soot and dried up blood on it. His heart raced as a name from the recesses of his mind came up.

"Keith?" A small flicker in the man's eyes brought Lance to his knees.

"You know this guy?" The volunteer asked, his face growing pale and guilty.

"Y-yeah." Lance croaked, fat tears falling down his face. "H-he's my friend." He gently reached out to the boy to touch his cheeks.

"I'll come back later." The volunteer spoke, already beginning to walk away. "I'm sorry man." 

Lance refused to look away from the boy seated in front of him. So many years had passed by since Lance had last thought of him. And to see him now, his eyes so far away, trapped in the endless loop horrors in his mind, it broke Lance's heart. If anything, he had assumed their next meeting would have been at a high school reunion party or something equally mundane and harmless. He had never imagined it would have been here in London after a brutal terrorist attack.

"Keith, say something." He gently squeezed his hands and was shocked at how cold they were. Like blocks of ice, or a corpse. "It's me Lance. Do you remember me?" He tilted his head a little so that he would be in Keith's direct line of sight. He hoped it would register something in Keith's mind.

At the sound of incoming footsteps, Lance looked over his shoulder.

"Hey Lance." Amanda spoke softly. "Would you like me to take over? This could get really hard on you." She offered, putting a gentle hand around Lance's back.

"No." He sniffled. "I-I want to be here."

"Okay." She tapped him twice. "I'll get some supplies and we can clean him up. Okay?"

"Thanks." Lance tried giving her the most grateful smile he could muster, but it only came out broken.

"Don't worry about it." She kissed him on the top of his head and left.

Lance watched as the clean fresh water became tainted with Keith's blood. He slowly rubbed at the cloth, his own mind going distant as it was becoming consumed with morbid thoughts.

"Lance?" Amanda's voice came clear as a bell and knocked his thoughts away.

With another sniffle, he wrung out the towel and began dabbing it on Keith's face. Most of the blood and blackened smoke was now gone, leaving behind a face that Lance was beginning to appreciate. He traced the curves of his cheekbones, padded at his lips and was careful about the crevices of his ears and collarbone.

Lance had sat beside Keith while a doctor came over to inspect him. He had felt awful when he couldn't supply any useful information to the questions the doctor had asked. Lance had questioned himself as to why he even called himself a friend when he couldn't even do this much. Friends knew more than each other's names and yet here he was, unable to even supply a surname.

After Keith had been placed in a cot of his own and was put to sleep, Amanda had pulled Lance aside. Lance knew that she had his best intentions at heart but he didn't like what she had suggested. It is true that Lance had been feeling helpless all morning at not being able to help people as much as he would like but who wasn't feeling like that? They just had to take a good look outside and anyone would feel worthless and pathetic. That didn't mean that he was using Keith to raise his own self-esteem. He wasn't and would never even think of doing such a horrid thing.

He gently took Keith's hand in his and cried silent tears.

He may not know things about the man that the doctors, volunteers, or local authorities may consider to be important but that didn't change the fact that  _Lance knew Keith_. He knew the boy since they were teenagers. He had invited him to his house, and brought him up to his bedroom. They had bickered and argued about the appropriate topic for their history project while the fan blew their hairs. He remembered snickering as Keith had ripped hot glue off his skin and throwing some glitter on him when he became too snarky. He remembered staying up until two o'clock in the morning finishing up the accompanying essay while Keith gave him company over the phone and Skype. The next day, they had handed in their paper looking like a pair of raccoons and then snored throughout the class while everyone else watched a film. Now that he thought about it, Lance could even remember the words Keith had spoken to his mother every time she had offered him to stay over for dinner. Lance laughed as memories of Keith and his siblings playing pranks on Lance came to mind.

So what if Lance doesn't know Keith's blood group, past surgeries or any other medical information. The man wasn't a complete stranger to him. He knew things that others wouldn't. Things that probably even Keith didn't know.

Lance directed his attention to Keith as he began to moan in his sleep. His face crumpled in on its self as his body began to shake in heart wrenching sobs. It was like a domino effect as within moments the entire room became splintered with echoes of broken wails and cries. Some were loud and harsh, lashing out to the cruel and wicked world while others were mute and crumbling, losing themselves to the souls departed. Lance tried to tune them all out and focus only on the boy before him but it was incredibly hard. They were all hurting and they all needed help but he could only give his heart to one. It was all he could handle. If he tried to help them all, he will be ripped apart. No, not ripped. He will explode. The bomb ticking inside of him will go off and there won't be anything left of him. No bones, no muscles, no heart, no mind. He will shower the streets with his blood but that too would be cleaned away. They will be purified of him and rebuild their city, their home and not even the wind will remember his name.

He squeezed Keith's hand and cried.

In broken sobs, he began to sing a lullaby that his mother used to sing him to sleep.

The lullaby didn't work.

Keith woke up screaming.

Lance wished he was never there.


End file.
